Unit 7:Recent Trends in Technology

Artificial intelligence
At its simplest form, artificial intelligence is a field, which combines computer science and robust
datasets, to enable problem-solving. It also encompasses sub-fields of machine learning and
deep learning, which are frequently mentioned in conjunction with artificial intelligence.

Component of AI

1. philosophy :it introduces the concept of logic and method of reasoning and studying the
mind as a physical system.
2. Mathematics : a subject that deals with numbers, shapes, logic, quantity and
arrangements. Mathematics teaches to solve problems based on numerical calculations
and find the solution.
3. Economic : It introduces the concept of the formation theory of rational decision.
4. Neuroscience : Neuroscience is concerned with how the nervous systems of humans and other
animals are organized and how they function.
5. Linguistics : In introduction the concept of knowledge representation and grammar and how does
languages related to through.
6. Computer science and engineering : the component introduce the concept of hardware ,software
And operating system.

Application of AI
Uses/Applications of Al The potential applications of Artificial Intelligence are abundant (plentiful). They
stretch from the military for autonomous control and target identification, to the entertainment
industry for computer games and robotic pets. Let's also not forget big establishments dealing with huge
amounts of information such as hospitals, banks, industries, and insurances, which can use Al to predict
customer behavior and detect trends.

1. Game playing: General game playing (GGP) and General video game playing (GVGP) is the concept
and designs for artificial intelligence programs to successfully play plenty of games. For video games,
game rules have to be either learned over multiple repetitions by artificial players or are predefined
manually in a domain-specific language and sent in advance to artificial players. For instance, the GGP of
chess, computers are programmed to play these games using a specially designed algorithm. It was
considered a necessary landmark on the way to Artificial General Intelligence. The first commercial
practice of general game-playing technology was Zillions of Games in 1998.

2. Speech recognition: In speech recognition, the input is given to the computer in the form of
vibrations produced by the sound. This is done with the help of an analog to digital converter that
converts the vibrations produced by the sound into digital format. Then, a set of complex algorithms
runs on that data to recognize the speech and return a text as a result. Depending upon the goal, the
end result may vary to some extent. For example, Google Voice typing converts spoken words into
suitable text format while personal assistants like Siri and Google Assistant take the sound as input and
convert it into both voice and text format, giving output as per the user's requirement.

3. Understanding natural language: Natural language understanding is a branch of artificial intelligence

that uses computer software to take the input in the form of sentences using text or speech. It simply
reduces the gap between humans and computers allowing them to interact easily with each other.

4. Computer vision: Computer vision is a field of artificial intelligence (AI), which enables the computer
and its systems to get input in the form of digital images and videos and take action based on the
provided input.

5. Expert systems: An expert system is a computer system that mimics or even surpasses the decision-
making ability of a human expert. It is generally designed to solve complex problems by surfing through
bodies of knowledge. It is further divided into two subsystems; the knowledge base (which represents
facts and rules) and inference engine (which applies the rules to the known facts to deduce new facts).

6. Robotics: Artificial intelligence (AI) in robotics is the ability of the computer or the robot to perform
multiple tasks performed by humans, which require human intelligence and discernment. It gives robots
a computer vision to navigate, sense, and calculate their reaction accordingly For: example: Robotic
packaging uses various forms of Al for quicker and accurate packaging at a lower price. Likewise, Sophia
which is also marked as a "social robot" is successfully able to mimic social behavior and induce feelings
of love in humans.

7. Theorem proving: Proving theorems requires high intelligence as many of the practical problems can
be cast in terms of theorems. If knowledge is expressed by logic, proving theorem is reasoning. It uses
various AI techniques such as heuristic search.

8. Symbolic mathematics: Symbolic mathematics refers to the manipulation of formulas, rather than
doing arithmetic on numeric values. It is often used in conjunction with ordinary scientific computation
as a generator of programs, used to actually do the calculations.

Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application
of robots. It is a discipline overlapping artificial intelligence and mechanical engineering. It is concerned
with building robot programmable devices consisting of mechanical actuators and sensory organs that
are linked to a computer. The mechanical structure might involve manipulators, as in industrial robotics,
might concern the movement of the robot as a vehicle, as in mobile - robotics. Robotics research is used
in artificial intelligence as a framework for exploring key problems and techniques through a well-
defined application.

1. Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, and
application of robots.

2. It is a discipline overlapping artificial intelligence and mechanical engineering.

 3. It is concerned with building robot programmable devices consisting of mechanical actuators and
sensory organs that are linked to a computer.

4. Robots are being used in applications like: Industry, scientific research, Military applications,
Intelligent home applications, Health Services.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the use of various services, such as software development platforms, servers,
storage, and software, over the Internet, often referred to as the "cloud". It is defined as a type of
computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having handle applications

Service Models of Cloud Computing

1. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): In this service, computing infrastructural components like

server hardware, storage, bandwidth, and other fundamental computing resources are provided
through the cloud.
2 SaaS (Software as a Service): This service includes complete software on the can access
software hosted on the cloud without installing it on the user's own computer.
3 3. PaaS (Platform as a Service): It allows the user to rent virtualized servers and associated
services used to run existing applications, or to design, develop, test, deploy and host
applications. It provides clients with access to the basic operating software and optional services
to develop and use software applications without the need to buy and manage the underlying
computing infrastructure.

Advantages of Cloud Computing

1. Cost-efficient: It is probably the most efficient method to use, maintain and upgrade.

2. Almost unlimited storage: Storing information in the cloud gives us almost unlimited storage
capacity.

3. Backup and recovery: Since, all the data is stored in the cloud, backing it up and restoring the
same is relatively much easier than storing the same on a physical device.

4. Automatic software integration: In the cloud, software integration is usually something that
occurs automatically. It also allows us to customize the options with great ease.

5. Easy access to information: Once the user is registered in the cloud, the user can access the
information from anywhere, where there is an Internet connection.

6. Quick deployment: Once the method of functioning is selected, the entire system can be fully
functional in a matter of few minutes.

Disadvantage of cloud computing

1. Technical issues: This technology is always prone to outages and other technical issues. Even the
best cloud service providers run into this kind of trouble. Despite keeping up high standards of
maintenance.

2. Security in the cloud: Storing all the sensitive information to a third-party cloud service provider
could potentially put the company at great risk.

3. Prone to Attack: Storing information in the cloud could make the company vulnerable to external
threats and attacks.

Big Data
Big Data refers to complex and large data sets that have to be processed and analyzed to uncover
valuable information that can benefit businesses and organizations. It has features like:

1. It refers to a massive amount of data that keeps on growing exponentially with time.

2. It is so voluminous that it cannot be processed or analyzed using conventional data processing

techniques.

3. It includes data mining, data storage, data analysis, data sharing, and data visualization.

4. The term is an all-comprehensive one including data, data frameworks, along the tools and
techniques used to process and analyze the data.

Types of Big Data

Big data can be classified as Structured, unstructured, and semi-structured.

1. Structured: It means that data can be processed, stored, and retrieved in a fixed format. It refers
to highly organized information that can be readily and seamlessly stored and accessed from a
database by simple search engine algorithms.

2. Unstructured: It refers to the data that lacks any specific form or structure whatsoever. This
makes it very difficult and time-consuming to process and analyze unstructured data.

3. Semi-structured: It relates to the data containing both the formats mentioned above, that is
structured and unstructured data. To be precise, it refers to the data that although has not been
classified under a particular repository (database), yet contains vital information or tags that
segregate individual elements within the data.

Characteristics of Big Data are:

1. Variety: It refers to the variety of data gathered from multiple sources. The variety can be
structured, unstructured, or semi-structured.
2. Velocity: It refers to the speed at which data is being created in real-time. It also comprises the
rate of change, linking of incoming data sets at varying speeds, and activity bursts.

3. Volume: Big Data indicates huge 'volumes of data that are being generated daily from various
sources like social media platforms, business processes, machines, networks, human interactions,
etc.

4. Veracity: It refers to the reliability or trustworthiness of the data. Due to the large volume of data,
we have uncertainty about the validity, the accurateness of data.

5. Value: It refers to the worth of business value of the collected data.

6. Variability: It refers to the inconsistency of the big data and how the big data can be used and
formatted.

Major application of big is data is:

1. Healthcare or Medical sector.

2. Academia.

3. Banking.

4. Manufacturing.

5. Information Technology (IT).

6. Retail business.

7. Transportation.

Advantages of Big Data Processing

1. Businesses can utilize outside intelligence while taking decisions.

2. Improved customer service.

3. Early identification of risk to the product/services,

4. Better operational efficiency.

5. Big data analysis derives innovative solutions. It helps in understanding and targeting customers.
It helps in optimizing business processes.
Disadvantages of Big Data Processing
. 1. Traditional storage can cost a lot of money to store big data.

2. Big data analysis is not useful in the short run. It needs to be analyzed for a longer duration to
leverage its benefits.

3. Big data analysis results are sometimes misleading.

Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a term that expresses computer-based simulated environments. Which can
perceive as in the real world, as well as in unreal worlds.

Advantages of Virtual Reality

1. Virtual reality creates a realistic world.

2. It enables users to explore places.

3. Through Virtual Reality, users can experiment with an artificial environment.

4. Virtual Reality makes education easier and more comfortable.

Disadvantages of Virtual Reality

1. The equipment's used in virtual reality are very expensive.

2. It consists of complex technology.

3. In virtual reality environment we can't move by our own like in the real world.

e-Commerce
Electronic commerce (e-Commerce) is a process of buying and selling or exchanging products,
services, and information using electronic media. There are many definitions for electronic
commerce that include elements of electronic transactions and the buying and selling of goods and
services online.
Advantage of e-Commerce are:
1. It enables more individuals to work at home, and to do less traveling for shopping, resulting in less traffic on
the roads, and lower air pollution.

2. It allows some merchandise to be sold at lower prices, benefiting less affluent people.

3. It enables people in Third World countries and rural areas to enjoy products and services which otherwise
are not available to them.

4. Facilitates delivery of public services at a reduced cost, increases effectiveness, and/or improves quality

. 5. It enables consumers to shop or do other transactions 24 hours a day, all year round from almost any
location.

7. It provides consumers with more selections or choices.

Disadvantage of e-Commerce
1. Businesses often calculate return on investment numbers before committing to any new
technology. Costs, which are a function of technology, can change dramatically during even short-
lived e-commerce implementation projects.

2. Many companies have had trouble recruiting and retaining employees with the technological,
design, and business process skills needed to create an effective ecommerce presence.

3. The difficulty of integrating existing databases and transaction-processing software designed for
traditional commerce into the software that enables e-commerce.

4. Many businesses face cultural and legal impediment (barrier) to e-commerce. Some consumers
are still fearful (afraid) of sending their credit card numbers over the Internet.

5. Consumers are simply resistant to change and are uncomfortable viewing merchandise on a
computer screen rather than in person.

e-Medicine
e-Medicine is an online clinical medical knowledge database, which is an approach to providing
health care service to a large number of people spread in different locations. It is mainly beneficial
for the people of rural areas with limited or no medical facilities. E-Medicine is targeted to provide
high-quality healthcare service. It minimizes the time and cost required for treatment.
e-Governance
e-Governance is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance the access
and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners, and employees. It
transforms the traditional government using ICT to make it clear, effective, and accountable.
However, it doesn't mean that putting more computers on the desks of government officials is e
governance.

Challenges of implementing e-Governance

The key challenges of implementing E-Governance mainly in developing countries like Nepal are

 High-speed infrastructure to access the Internet is required.

 Creating trust and transparency of successful delivery of E-Governance service.

 The digital divide exists in developing countries. All the citizens may not have ICT knowledge.

 Network security and protection against viruses, spam, unwanted attacks, etc.

 Online privacy.

 All the citizens may not have access to computing resources.

Mobile Computing
Mobile computing is a generic term describing one's ability to use technology while moving as
opposed to portable which is only practical for use while deployed in a stationary configuration. A
mobile computing device is created using mobile components, such as mobile hardware and
software. Mobile computing devices are portable devices capable of operating executing, providing
services and applications like a computing device.

Features of Mobile Computing devices are

 It is a portable device that can be used during mobility.

 It has limited processing and storage capability.

 It includes mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software.

 It usually contains a touch screen for providing input.

 It contains an on-screen or virtual keyboard for proving text inputs. However, an external
keyboard can be connected by using the USB port, infrared, or Bluetooth.

 It contains a camera, speaker, and microphone.

 It contains handwriting recognizing software.

Advantages of mobile technology are:

 It enables users to work from any location at any time.

 It saves time for accessing data and information.

 It helps to increase the productivity of users reducing the time and cost.

 It has made research easier.

 It is one of the major handheld sources of entertainment of users at present.

 Nowadays, Business processes are easily available through secured mobile connections.

 It is portable.

 It supports cloud computing.

Disadvantages of Mobile Technology

 Mobile technology requires faster and quality or GPRS or 3G or 4G connectivity.

 It has security concerns; most wireless connectivity is unsafe.

 Large power consumption is due to the use of batteries continuously and they do not tend to last
long.

 The danger of misrepresentation i.e., credential

 Extensive use of mobile devices results in health problems.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other
items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity, which enables
these things to connect, collect and exchange data.
Advantages of IoT
 It automates tasks and helps to improve the quality of a business's services and reduces.

 It helps to operate the business operations more efficiently, better understand customers to
deliver enhanced customer service.

 It supports to improve decision-making and increases the value of the business.

 It has the ability to access information from anywhere at any time on any device.

Disadvantages of IoT
 As the number of connected devices increases and more information is shared between devices,
the chances of the system being attacked also increases.

 Organizations may eventually have to deal with massive numbers (maybe even millions) of loT
devices, and collecting and managing the data from all those devices will be challenging.

 If there's a bug in the system, every connected device will likely become corrupted.

 Since there's no international standard of compatibility for loT, it's difficult for devices from
different manufacturers to communicate with each other.

e-Learning
e-Learning applies to a learning/teaching or understanding about a topic with the help of
Information and Communication Technology. e-Learning allows us to learn anywhere and usually at
any time, as long as we have a properly configured computer, networks, devices, etc. e-Learning can
be CD ROM-based, Network-based, Intranet-based, or Internet-based. It can include text, video,
audio, animation, and virtual environments. It can be a very rich learning experience that can even
go beyond the lecture-based crowded classroom. It's a self paced, hands-on learning experience.

m-Commerce
m-Commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless
technology i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Industries affected by m-commerce include:

 Financial services, including mobile banking (when customers use their handheld devices to access
their accounts and pay their bills), as well as brokerage services (in which stock quotes can be
displayed and trading conducted from the same handheld device).
Social Media
Social Media is a computer-based technology that is used for the creation and sharing of
information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube are popular social media tools.

Advantages of Social Media

 It provides easier and faster way to communicate.

 It provides worldwide real-time sharing of news and educational content.

 It is one of the effective marketing/advertising tools at present.

 It is the major source of entertainment at present.

 It helps to understand better the latest trends and events.

Disadvantages of Social Media

 It has increased cyber-crime.

 Productive times is lost due to time waster in social media.

 It is a common tool at present for spreading rumours and fake news/updates.

 It has a high risk of fraud.

 It has decreased privacy.